Urgent inspection due to complaints about Dr Ranka Radulović's sessions

Urgent inspection due to complaints about Dr Ranka Radulović's sessions

The surveillance was ordered after Slobodan Negić, the father of the murdered girl in "Vladislav Ribnikar" elementary school, stated that doctor Ranka Radulović held a session with the children in that school without the knowledge of the parents, just two days after the massacre.

Negić made claims that "dark psychotherapy sessions" were held with the children who came to school that day to pick up their belongings, during which Principal Dr Radulović played folk music to the children and instructed them to connect with the spirits and souls of their loved ones, their murdered comrades.

After his guest appearance in "Impression of the Week" and complaints about the work of Dr Ranka Radulović from the Clinic for Psychiatry of the University Clinical Center of Serbia during the provision of psychological support to students, the Ministry ordered an extraordinary inspection, while the Clinic will urgently carry out an internal inspection, which will determine all the facts related to the specific event on May 5, 2023, to which the remarks refer.

"We remind the public that on May 4, 2023, immediately after the tragedy at the "Vladislav Ribnikar" school, the Ministry of Health formed an expert team in order to provide psychological support to students, teachers and parents. The first meeting was attended by UNICEF representatives, in addition to the school's teachers and psychologists, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, together with the representatives of the Republic's Expert Commission for Mental Health," the Ministry's statement reads, among other things.

As they further say, after the meeting, the Ministry of Health sent a request to the Institute for Mental Health in Belgrade, the Clinic for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Youth, and the Clinic for Psychiatry UKCS. All these institutions, at the request of the Ministry of Health, and according to the plan of the Ministry of Education, delegated members who worked every day in shifts from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"In addition, at the request of the Ministry of Education, representatives of health institutions also attended parent meetings. All these health institutions, as well as other health institutions that have psychiatric departments, opened free telephone lines and provided interviews and examinations in the health institutions themselves to all those who needed help. The list of psychiatrists and psychologists was submitted to the Ministry of Health by health institutions, while the work of the teams is coordinated on a daily basis.

As of May 11, these activities and further coordination were taken over by the Working Group for the Support of Mental Health and Safety of Youth, formed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia," the announcement states.